The Voice of America provided audiences around the globe with an out-of-this world interview by going live with a couple of astronauts in space on January 20, 2016.

In a live interview from aboard the space station, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly told VOA Learning English reporter Anne Ball in Washington D.C. that he follows the news “very closely up here, and we have the news going on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornieko are spending a year on the space station -- twice the time that most astronauts spend aboard the orbiting laboratory. Speaking through an interpreter, Kornienko told VOA, “We can effectively work together with people from different countries -- together in space for the benefit of humanity. If we could send our politicians here for a month or a month and a half, then all the problems on Earth would be resolved much easily.”

In addition to conducting experiments on the long-term effects of weightless on the human body, Kelly and Kornieko are exploring other physical and psychological challenges encountered in space. Their findings will give NASA scientists and planners important information as they chart a possible mission to Mars.

“The real interesting thing is the international cooperation up there. Americans and Russians are working together for survival. Our job is to bring interesting and smart stories and programming to our viewers and listeners from around the world. Personally, for me, it was an absolute thrill, a career highlight,” said Ball about the interview.